SC in favor of additional incentives for lawyers doing pro bono work

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court is amenable to recommendations to give more incentives to lawyers who provide free legal assistance to the poor and marginalized sectors of the society. Chief Justice Reynato Puno on Tuesday said there is a pending bill in Congress that seeks to give tax credit to lawyers who take on pro bono cases in a bid to socialize the cost of justice. Additional incentives to lawyers with pro bono cases was among the recommendations given during the two-day Forum on Increasing Access to Justice by the Poor, which was sponsored by the high court. Another proposal was a wholesale order for all members of the Bar to render free legal service. “Both these proposals are worth looking into. We will certainly widen the base of lawyers who will be available to defend the poor. These are lawyers who are quality lawyers,” Puno said. Puno added that these two proposals could be implemented in two to three months. Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) President Feliciano Bautista, in his briefing before the delegates, said the high court should exercise its constitutional power to regulate the practice of law by requiring all members of the Bar to render at least 100 hours per year of free legal aid work to indigent clients as a pre-condition for their good standing in the Bar. “Certainly, if our courts can require continuing legal education as a prerequisite for good standing in the Bar, the achievement of the noble purposes for which our noble profession was established, that is the administration of justice to all, should also warrant this rather drastic intervention by our Court,” Bautista said. - GMANews.TV